Who is Pam Bondi, possible candidate for U.S. Attorney General job?

Pam Bondi, who has been mentioned as a possible permanent successor to Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General, is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and campaigned vigorously for him in her home state of Florida during the 2016 presidential campaign.

If appointed, Bondi, who turns 53 on Nov. 17, would become the third woman to be named U.S. Attorney General, following Janet Reno (1993-2001) and Loretta Lynch (2015-2017). Sally Yates was acting attorney general during the first 10 days of Donald Trump’s administration in January 2017.

Bondi won election in 2010 as Florida's first female attorney general and the 37th in state history. Because of a state law limiting the attorney general to two terms, Bondi was unable to run again in 2018.

Pamela Jo Bondi was born Nov. 17, 1965, in Tampa and graduated from Leon C. King High School. She attended the University of Florida, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1987. She earned her Juris Doctor at Stetson Law School in 1990 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991, the Tampa Tribune reported..

Her father, Joseph C. Bondi Jr., was a city councilman in the Tampa suburb of Temple Terrace and served as mayor from 1974 to 1978, according to the Tribune. Bondi’s mother, Patsy Loretta Hammer, was an elementary school teacher in the Tampa area who taught kindergarten, first and fourth grade, the newspaper reported. She has a sister, Beth Bondi McIntyre, and a brother, Brad Bondi, the Tribune reported.

Her paternal grandfather, Joseph C. Bondi Sr., also was a teacher. Her great-grandfather, Charles (Calogero) Bondi, emigrated to the United States from Sicily, according to his obituary in the Tribune.

Bondi’s maternal grandmother, Grace May Gibson, moved to Florida as a child and lived in rural DeSoto County before moving to Tampa, according to Ancestry.com. Her maternal grandfather, Kenneth Hammer, was born in Washington state and was a member of the carpenters union in Tampa, where he lived with his wife for 30 years, according to the Tribune..

Bondi married Garrett Barnes in August 1990 (they were divorced in November 1992), and Scott Fitzgerald in January 1997. They were divorced in 2002, according to Florida marriage and divorce records.

Bondi fought against former President Barack Obama’s programs, signing onto a lawsuit with other states challenging the Deferred Action Against Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), the Miami Herald reported in 2014. She also joined a lawsuit attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, according to Ballotpedia.

Last year, a bribery claim against Bondi involving a $25,000 donation from Trump through his foundation in 2013 was dropped because prosecutors said it lacked enough evidence to move forward, the Tampa Bay Times reported.